Tag Archives: LG

Amid the slew of smartphones being released right in time for the holiday shopping season, Google's new LG-made Nexus 4 is winning the popularity contest.

Within hours of going on sale on the U.K.'s Google Play store on Monday, the latest nexus smartphone sold out. Same story in Australia, except that the successor to Google's Nexus 7 Tablet, the Samsung-made nexus 10, was also listed as "out of stock" before the day's end.

Meanwhile, BGR reported that in the U.S., it took only minutes before all available units of both the 8GB and 16GB models of the Nexus 4 sold out on Google Play. And before long, 32GB models of the Nexus 10 were out of stock, with only 10 units of the 16GB model remaining.

To use the old adage, tehy're selling like hotcakes. But it's not hard to see why.

Starting at $299 for the unlocked Nexus 4, the pricing is pretty competitive compared to other smartphones, especially considering its specs: Snapdragon S4 quad-core processor, 4.7-inch True HD IPS screen with a resolution of 1280×768 resolution, and Android 4.2 Jelly Bean to boot.

However, it doesn't have LTE – if it did, people would probably be killing each other for it at that price – but TechCrunch is right in saying that it's essentially "a high-end 3G device for a mid-range price."

Likewise, there's no reason that demand for the Nexus 10 Tablet should cool down anytime soon. Starting at $399.99, it's greatest draw is its super-sized 10.1" 330PPI display, one of the biggest tablet screens out there.

Hurricane warnings mat have put an end to Google's plans for an October 29 event, but Android fans won't have been disappointed with what Googled offered up on Monday instead: a bonanza of news about their highly anticipated upcoming Nexus devices.

In lieu of an event unveiling, Google has simply made an announcement online, confirming what most of us have been suspecting for some time – A Samsung-made Nexus 10 tablet, and an LG-made Nexus 4 smartphone.

The rumors of an LG Nexus 4 smartphone have been confirmed by Google

The fact that the new gadgets couldn't be revealed live didn't seem to lessen the impact of the announcement, as major news organizations and leading tech sites jumped onto the Nexus news en masse.

Now, we're breaking down all the latest talk to give you the major points of this dual announcement.

Release dates and pricing:

Both the Nexus 10 tablet and Nexus 4 phone will be available as of November 13 in the U.S and Canada, as well as in several European countries and Japan for the Nexus 10.

Google's pricing the unlocked LG Nexus 4 at 8GB for $299, and 16GB for $349 or $199 through T-Mobile with a 2-year contract.

Specs and reviews:

There's already been a lot of positive reactions to the Nexus 10.

With a slightly more curved body than most of us had anticipated, the entirely Samsung-made tablet has a 10" display that Gizmodo's calling better than retina at 300 pixels per inch.

Inside, it boasts a a dual-core 1.7GHz Samsung Exynos processor, 2 GB of RAm, and is available in either 16 GB or 32 GB models.

A couple of other strong points are its 8 megapixel rear-facing camera, and the fact that it supports wireless charging.

If you're looking for detailed specs, TechCrunch has a pretty complete list for both devices here.

Meanwhile, we'd like to know what you think about Google's new Nexus devices. Are you planning to get one? Both? How do you think they live up to all the hype? Leave your opinion in the comments section.

Carphone Warehouse leaked, well, everything about the next Nexus smartphone

As writer Ernest Hamlin Abbott once put it, "rumors are not news; but they sometimes foreshadow news."

And, boy, have the rumors ever been stacking up concerning Google's next Nexus device, even though Google's expected to be saving any official news about it until their October 29 event.

Still, between the speculation that the new Android phone will be LG-made, the pictures, and even a premature review, we've already learned quite a bit about the upcoming Nexus 4.

And today, a new leak from retailer Carphone Warehouse revealed pretty much everything else, right down to the LG phone's specs, price and expected release date.

Advertising pre-orders for the phone, Carphone Warehouse has listed a price of £389.95. And their description boasts that the new smartphone has a 4.7" LCD display, and "the fastest and smoothest version of Android yet," Android OS 4.2 Jelly Bean, as well as some new features:

"Search gets smarter with Google Now. You ask. Google answers, instantly, and with all the detail you want... Stay in touch with Gesture Typing, a faster way of typing that lets you spell words by dragging your finger across the screen from letter to letter."

Meanwhile, Carphone Warehouse sets October 30 as the start date for delivery, just one day after Google's event. Though, after this last and possibly most comprehensive leak, there isn't much Google could tell us about their latest smartphone that we don't already know.

Leaked pictures of what appears to be an LG-made future Nexus device surfaced this week

They usually stand for "life's good," but this week, LG's trademark letters stood for something else entirely – "leaks guaranteed."

If you're building a new smartphone, as LG appears to be, you can pretty much assume someone's going to get a picture of it, and that before too long, the whole of the internet is going to see it.

All that glitters is not yet to be sold: the sparkly backing of the new LG E960

The leak in question this time is what appears to be an LG-made Nexus device. Judging by the leaked photos, which appeared in the XDA-Developers forum, Engaget says the LG E960 "appears to be a variant of the Optimus G – until you realize that it's using software navigation keys, doesn't quite resemble the international or AT&T Optimus G models and is oddly badged as the 'Full JellyBean on Mako.'"

The device also bears some resemblance to Samsung's Galaxy Nexus, though the E960's corners seem more rounded than those of of the LG Optimus G, and it's backing is flatter, with a sleeker design than that of the Galaxy Nexus.

Meanwhile, says Mobile Syrup, the fact that the E960 has recently passed through FCC certification "showing off PCS and AWS bands for HSPA+ and AWS bands for LTE," hints that the new smartphone is likely to be available on a number of networks, potentially making it "one of the most multi-faceted unlocked phones on the market."

Based on the assumption that LG is in fact producing the next Nexus device – which it probably is – there's talk that the LG E960 may be ready by early November.

Ken Hong, an LG spokesman, couldn’t have made it any clearer when he told Bloomberg, “We’ve decided to put all new tablet development on the back burner for the time being in order to focus on smartphones.”

LG launched the Optimus Pad LTE earlier this year, but hasn’t been able to make any inroads against Apple, Amazon and Samsung in the tablet market. The South Korean electronics manufacturer will try to turn around its smartphone business by concentrating on its Optimus line of Android devices. Hong also noted that the company is still interested in making phones using Microsoft’s Windows Phone software.

Due in part to the fact that Apple commands the lion's share of the worldwide tablet market coupled with their lack of success with their Optimus Pad, LG has decided to put their tablet development efforts to the side, and focus on producing Android smartphones that can stand a chance against some very serious rivals.

LG’s Optimus Pad LTE hit the market earlier this year but it didn’t get anyone too excited. There’s a lot of competition in the tablet market, but Apple owns it. Even older versions of iPads outsell some competitor tablets. It’s good to see LG say “why bother?”

According to a spokesperson from LG, the company is going to concentrate on developing Android smartphones that are more technologically competitive with the products like the Samsung Galaxy S3 and the HTC One X.

LG knows its stuff when it comes to home appliances and other types of electronics, but you don’t see people lining up to buy the latest in refrigerator technology. It’s time for LG t decide whether they’re in or they’re out.

Google’s Android director Andy Rubin knows and he took to Twitter to brag about it. Perhaps in an effort to take some of the attention away from Apple’s WWDC this week, Rubin decided to let his Twitter followers know that are more than 900,000 activations of Android per day.

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Rubin also used his Twitter message to deny rumors that he was leaving the company for the startup CloudCar. “No plans to leave Google,” he tweeted. “Oh, and just for meme completeness—there are over 900,000 android devices activated each day :-).”

Google’s Android is now the leading OS platform with 51% of the market. According to a recent MobiLens quarterly survey of mobile subscribers, Android use is growing at almost four times the rate of its closest competitor Apple, that services 30.7% of consumers with their iOS.

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Android’s increase of 3.7% outpaces Apple’s mere 1% to give it the majority of the market. The increase for both of these companies comes at the expense of RIM that dropped 3.7% to 12.3% and Microsoft that registered a 0.8% decrease to 3.9% of the smartphone market. While Symbian held its ground at 1.4%.

These number reflect changes in market share since the poll was done in December 2011.

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Google won’t be celebrating a long term victory just yet. Both Microsoft’s Windows 8 and RIM’s Blackberry 10 are due for release in the fall, but are already plagued by negative opinions. The rumor that Microsoft’s new platform might not support the current hardware lineup has sent a ripple of anger and confusion through the Windows Phone community.

BlackBerry 10 may be the best OS version RIM has ever produced, and it’s telling this to the world right now. But at little more than 12% of the current market and a plethora of technical criticism about its lack of gadgets and apps, Blackberry has a lot of PR ahead.

Unless Microsoft and RIM take the market by surprise, it looks like Google and Apple are going to battle it out with each other and continue to eat up their minor competitors’ markets.

Is Samsung to have its tiara and sash taken away? Will Google choose another manufacturer to make the next Nexus handsetand dethrone the reigning queen? And, *gasp* could it be an underdog victory for LG, the manufacturer that has had its fits and starts with Android smartphones?

If chosen, the lagging manufacturer would get early access to the next gen version of Android which means great buzz, great press and great sales. Samsung has been a perfect example of this success model by being the vendor bringing us the two latest Nexus devices: the Nexus S and the Galaxy Nexus. With experience working with Google and new, major Android OS version upgrades, there are a fair number positives in the incumbent’s favor. So if they have ushered in a Nexus for Gingerbread and now Ice Cream Sandwich, will they also be cobranded with Jellybean?

And how will LG Mobile win the bid when Samsung sold an impressive 300 million cell phones last year and is continually vying for top-smartphone brand ranking in the US? Honestly, the more likely competition will come from Google internally and its latest acquisition-in-the-works: Motorola Mobility. The tech conglomerate has made reassurances that it would not play favorites with Motorola, but… really? How would that make business sense?

If Google does opt to dole out Nexus rights to an external manufacturer, the status will not be quite so dramatic as Motorolawould still get the perk of early iteration to next gen Android OS. And, by all accounts the company’s engineering and software teams will likely work closely post-acquisition which put Motorola in a position to help shape the Android platform. There is the question of how will peripheral devices, accessory appeal and that brand association affect these contenders and what will they bring to the table in terms of docking stations and power options to garner more attention and press?

What LG does have in its favor (despite notorious custom Android skins that have not won over customers) is their marked improvements from past years to this year’s MWC showing which introduced the optimistically improved LG Optimus 4X. This shows ambition and a willingness to put in the work. A little bit of gumption, elbow grease, and a good ole fashioned Hail Mary Pass maybe do the trick for LG.

With a device this size having these specs... is it a smartphone or is it a tablet or is it a little bit of both - to coin a new phrase smartabletphone

Do they really expect customers to hold this handset (overall dimensions of the Vu are 139.6 x 90.4 x 8.5mm) to speak on the phone for any length of time? At least the latter bodes well for Bluetooth headsets.

In addition to being a “multimedia lover’s dream device” - the phone features a 5-inch 1024 x 768 IPS display, a 1.5GHz dual-core Qualcomm processor, an 8-megapixel camera, and will support LTE. What's new is the storage capacity — the phone will come with 32GB of storage — and the full dimensions. The phone measures in at 5.49 inches by 3.55 inches, making it wider than the already substantially-sized Galaxy Note, but thinner at just 0.33 inches thick (8.5mm). Taking another cue from the Note's playbook, the Vu introduces the 'rubberidium' stylus pen as well.

As an alternative to the Galaxy Note, we are looking forward to seeing the product launch. In its press release, LG stated the Optimus Vu “boasts unmatched productivity. Its unique built-in QuickClip hotkey allows users to conveniently capture screenshots and memos with a single push. Jotting notes is also possible with a finger or with the dedicated Rubberdium pen”.

While this Android newcomer will initially come with OS 2.3 Gingerbread, an Ice Cream Sandwich update is en route. Also, before giving us a peek of this handset at the Mobile World Congress LG confirmed that the Vu will be available at Korea’s SK Telecom carrier in early March. As an LTE-enabled device, this could very well be seen in Canada later this year, but there have been no details around carrier availability or if the handset will be available unlocked.